Twitter Launches Child-Friendly Vine App, Vine Kids For iOS

Social media site Twitter has released a new version of the 6-second video-sharing app Vine that will be marketed toward children. The new app will filter out inappropriate content.

The app is called Vine Kids, and is already available on iOS. Vine Kids won’t allow swearing, suggestive dancing, partial nudity or other forms of "adult" content. The videos will be “hand-selected,” the company said.

“The idea came about during an office conversation in early January,” Carolyn Penner, head of communications and marketing at Vine, said in a blog post on Friday. “One of my colleagues was talking about how much his 2-year-old daughter loves Vine –– he said he wished there was a separate app she could use to more easily watch posts that are appropriate for kids.”

Vine is a short-form video service that was founded in June 2012 and was acquired by Twitter in October of that year for a reported $30 million. Twitter launched the app in January 2013. But Vine quickly faced significant criticism for pornographic content that appeared in its feed. Now, Twitter has updated its terms of service to reserve the right to remove any questionable content, though the app had earned itself a less than kid-friendly reputation. But that hasn't prevented children from using it for its quick clips and straightforward content.

“We’ve seen for ourselves -- and heard from parents, siblings and others -- that kids love Vine,” Penner added.

Current “kid-friendly” clips available on the service include videos of cats and dogs, Elmo from “Sesame Street,” cartoon animations and a piano-playing hedgehog.

Last year, Vine said more than 100 million people watched videos using its app or website.